Thursday, June 30, 2016

No one sets out to make an
iconic character, or at least those that do usually don’t accomplish this. These
characters are just connect with an audience and grow into a phenomenon. If you
are an anime fan, you know who Totoro is, you can’t escape his fuzzy presence.
If you don’t know who Totoro is, then go watch My Neighbor Totoro as soon as you can, because he is an iconic
character, not just in Japan, but around the world.

Summary:

Satsuki (Noriko Hidaka) and
Mei (Chika Sakamoto) are moving to the country with their father (Shigesato
Itoi). We soon discover that the girl’s mother (Sumi Shimamoto) is sick and
hopefully the country air will help her get well. But mother has to stay in a
local hospital until she is well enough to join the three at the new place.
After they arrive the girls think mysterious Dust Bunnies may haunt the new
home. Satsuiki and Mei explore the house and discover clues to supernatural inhabitants.

In the meantime the girls help
their dad around the house and make new friends like Kanata (Toshiyuki Amagas)
a young boy who thinks Satsuki is cute, but doesn’t know what to do about it.
They also befriend kindly old Granny (Tanie Kitbayashi) who tells them about
the forest spirits that live nearby. That is when Mei encounters the Totoro, a
huge furry creature living in a huge camphor tree near the house. Totoro and
his tiny friends befriend the girls and take them on all kinds of adventures
including flying through the air, taking a ride on a Cat Bus and entering an enchanted
tree. But when mother takes a turn for the worse is there anything Totoro can
do to help the girls in there hour of need?

Good Points:

Miyazaki creates a wonderful
sense of place and wonder in the animation

Totoro and all the
supernatural creations are a joy to behold

You grow to like all the
characters in the film

Bad Points:

There isn’t really an
overall story, more like a series of vignettes

Looking for an antagonist to
boo? Not going to find one here.

Some may find the movie too
simple or too childish (I don’t agree, but I’ve heard that argument before)

Overall:

This is a wonderful example
of family entertainment. Young children will connect with the protagonists and
fall in love with Totoro and his pals. Adults will find a nostalgic quality to
the film that is so appealing. The movie puts you into the world of a child and
does it so effectively. All the pieces come together to make a film that is
entertaining and soothing all at once. It isn’t hard to see why this became a
big hit and remains a classic in Miyazaki’s filmography ever since.

Scores
(out of 5)

Visuals: 5

Sound: 4

Acting: 4

Script: 4

Music: 4

Direction: 5

Entertainment: 5

Total:4

In Depth Review

The big Totoro lets out a giant Yawp!

I think that one of the
toughest genres to create in movies is the family film. Most end up too dumbed
down for adults to enjoy. Others end up a little too snarky and meta to be
anything more than a mild amusement that is soon forgotten. It is rare that you
actually see a family film that is whimsical, positive and entertaining all at
once. My Neighbor Totoro should be
required viewing for anyone attempting to create family entertainment and do it
the right way.

I often hear Hayao Miyazaki
called the Japanese Walt Disney, and I think his work on My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki’s
Delivery Service is where that idea comes from. I appreciate the
comparison, but it doesn’t quite fit. Both men are more then just comparison
points to each other. As I mentioned above, you could compare Totoro to Mickey
Mouse when it comes to a popular icon created from family entertainment. Totoro
is inescapable in Japan. And if you have any stores near you that sell
merchandise or pop culture from Japan (especially anime or manga) odd are you’ve
seen Totoro there too.

Why the lasting appeal? Why
the accolades? Why the huge amount of success that allowed Miyazaki to continue
with his dream of making animated films into 2013? Let’s take a look at all the
different elements and see how they work together.

The pastoral and old fashioned setting.

For the first time in a
Miyazaki directed feature film we have a setting in Japan. Because we aren’t in
the post apocalyptic world of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind or the steam punk fantasy of Castle in the Sky, the design has a more down to earth feel. The
film is a period piece, set in 1958. This gives the clothing, automobiles and
town surrounding our protagonists an old fashioned but homey feel to it.

The country setting allows
Miyazaki to show off nature in the form of the giant camphor tree, the rolling
hills surrounding the village and waving open fields of grass. My Neighbor Totoro feels much more open
and airy compared to Castle in the Sky.
The setting adds to the nostalgic atmosphere that wraps the whole film in a
comfy familiar blanket, even for non-Japanese audiences.

What mysteries await in the new house?

The character design follows
Miyazaki’s normal style. They are variants on what we’ve seen in the past. The
Totoros look related to the Panda family from Panda Go Panda and Satsuki could be Nausicaa’s little sister. Old
Granny could be a stand in for Yubaba in Spirited
Away. But this movie actually establishes more designs that Miyazaki will
use in future films.

Like the previous films,
some of the visual highlights include moments when characters take flight.
Totoro uses a magic top to take to the air with Mei and Satsuki. Later in the
movie, the flying Cat Bus hurtles across the countryside and leaps high into
the air, providing a thrilling ride for those inside. It just wouldn’t be a
Miyazaki film without those moments.

Who ya gonna call? Dust Bunny Busters!

But I also like some of the
creepy scenes early in the film, when the girls explore their new house. The home has plenty of darkened passages
and closed doors that could open to anything: even a group of Dust Bunnies! Miyazaki
does a good job creating an eerie atmosphere of mystery. It’s not too scary
(like elements we’d see in Spirited Away
or Princess Mononoke). But it
creates a few moments of the uncanny as the two girls come in contact with the
spirits that inhabit the house and surrounding forest.

Sound work follows suit for
the film. Most of what we hear is typical sound effects for the pastoral
setting and vintage cars. When some magic is needed for the Totoros and the Cat
Bus then some interesting sound design is used. It is all creative and
immersive.

Mei befriends the giant Totoro.

When it came to the music
for My Neighbor Totoro Miyazaki once
again turned to his composer of choice, Joe HIsaishi. Hisaishi creates three
main melodies for the film, and they are all used to flesh out songs used in
the film and on the soundtrack album. The opening title theme Hey Lets Go! gets things off to a cheery
start. It is also used when the family goes to visit their sick mother in the
local hospital. The end title track, is the theme for the Totoros, and actually
features a chorus singing their name several times. It’s a jaunty tune and is
used several times in the film. The other theme is one used when Mei gets lost.
We only hear it a couple times at the end of the film, but Hisaishi uses the
melody for a song called The Lost Child
on the album. Hisashi creates a set of other memorable motifs for the Dust
Bunnies, Cat Bus and the girl’s mother. The music is all light, melodic and
fits the film so well. Much of the emotion and nostalgia comes from Hisaishi’s
score. While it is primarily orchestral, there is some use of 80s synthesizers
in nearly every track to supplement the music. It may be one of Hisaisihi’s
most cheerful and uplifting scores for a Miyazaki film – and that is saying
something.

Even the Cat Bus is pleased that Mei and Satsuki findeach other.

When it comes to the vocal
cast, it is important that the two main girls are able to convey the mixture of
innocence and wonder that makes the film work. In Japanese you have Noriko
Hidaka as Satsuki and Chika Sakamoto as Mei. Both girls do a fine job. Sakamoto
makes Mei just cute enough that you don’t want to strangle her when she gets
bratty. Hidaka also does a great job combining the affection and annoyance of
having a younger sibling to take care of. Their interaction with each other and
the other characters goes a long way to making the whole thing work. There have
been two English dubs for this film one done in 1993 for Fox and one in 2005
for Disney. Both English dubs work well, with Dakota and Elle Fanning appearing
in the Disney version with Lea Salonga (of Aladdin
fame) as their mother.I
usually like to watch this one in Japanese, because of the very Japanese
setting, but both English dubs work just fine and allow English speaking
viewers a chance to enjoy the animation.

Mei in hot pursuit of the white rabbit... I meanlittle and medium Totoros!

If there is one criticism
you can level at My Neighbor Totoro
it is that the film doesn’t have a traditional narrative. The movie plays out
more like a series of vignettes about the girls moving into the new home with
their father and how they adapt to the changes and the fact that their mother
is still very ill. There is a story arc of sorts, as both girls grow up a bit
over the course of the movie. But there is no antagonist to challenge the
girls, or grand goal or objective at the heart of the film, at least not one
that is obvious. As a writer I really admire how Miyazaki and his crew are able
to make this approach work. We connect immediately with the girls, most of us
have moved to a new home and had to deal with all the strange things we
encounter. I love how Satsuki and Mei have this mixture of excitement, fear and
daring in the first portion of the film as they explore the “haunted house” and
meet the dust bunnies. Even the scenes where the girls meet Totoro are an
interesting mixture of suspense and wonder. All these moments keep us
interested in the girls and what they are going to encounter next.

Satsuki is isolated in this frame, as she searchesfor the lost Mei.

In many ways this film
reminds me strongly of Alice in
Wonderland as envisioned by Disney or the Jim Henson film Labyrinth. You get a series of
encounters and adventures, but not a clear plot path. The story seems to
meander at times as you take the journey with the characters. But by the time
it is over, you realize that each moment played into the character’s growth in
some way and by the end of the film they have learned something about
themselves.

It takes a deft touch to
make something like My Neighbor Totoro work.
For me this is the first film where everything comes together just about
perfectly for Miyazaki. His abilty to capture that childlike wonder, that
thrill of discovery, the fear of the unknown and the dispair of losing someone
so important to you – all these elements come into play in this simple story.
But it is that simplicity that makes the film so endearing, entertaining and
have that staying power. Pretty much anyone who sees My Neighbor Totoro will not forget it. Children connect with the
girls and the cute and helpful Totoro. Adults will pick up on the nostalgia for
a simpler time and the delightful visuals that capture the imagination. Miyazaki
even manages to include a little ecological message about the Totoros being
spirits of the forest and being attracted growing plants.

The leaf hat just isn't cutting it.

Of course some folks find
the whole thing just too cute, or too slight. While I can understand that to a
point, I think they don’t understand the core of the film. My Neighbor Totoro Isn’t going for the narrative scope of something
like Princess Mononoke or even Castle of Cagliostro. It is about a
family dealing with some serious issues, a sick mother, a big move to a very
different place and meeting new neighbors. But it does it from the point of
view of children, who see some of these things as games, fantasy or sometimes
as confusing and scary events. That is the magic of the film. Miyazaki reaches
younger viewers who feel like the film is speaking to them. It reaches older
viewers because it reminds us of our childhood and some of the great and
amazing things we experienced. My
Neighbor Totoro is a must see for anyone who enjoys good entertainment. I
can understand why it is many people’s favorite Miyazaki film, and while I rate
a few other films a bit higher, it is the start of his winning streak.

The girls rush to find adventure in the "haunted house".

Time for a snack after the move.

The girls visit their sick mother.

She seeks him here, she seeks him there. She seeksthat rascal everywhere.

And then this happened... a cat bus appeared.

"Are you seeing this $%@&?" "Yeah, I totally seea Cat Bus."

The girls and the Totoro's combine forces to make thelittle acorns grow.

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

The 1990s were great for fans of the 1970s, because there was a huge nostalgic boom for that disco decade. It explains why we ended up with The Brady Bunch Movie as well as Boogie Nights. But we also had a bit of a 70s throw back for film music and even J-pop featured in anime. One of the most 70s-tastic scores of the 1990s was for the anime series Revolutionary Girl Utena. During the series the leading lady would engage in a sword duel with various rivals, and the whole thing was scored with a full blown 70s rock opera style of pop.

The musical style is kind of hard to describe, so I'll just let you listen to it. This piece is played quite a few times during the series as Utena climbs a glass staircase to face her next dueling opponent. The title can be translated a few ways, but I've always seen it as Absolute Destiny Apocalypse performed by the mysterious J.A. Seazer. And if you think this sounds strange, some of the other dueling songs are even odder.

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Some of the big holes in my
movie watching experience are the Mad Max films. Honestly, I’ve only seen about
20 minutes of Beyond Thunderdome at
a friends house. I just wasn’t terribly interested in dystopian
science fiction when I was a kid, and it wasn’t until much later did I hear how
insane The Road Warrior was supposed
to be. I was finally able to see the first film in this franchise and I’ve got
to be honest, it wasn’t what I was expecting.

Summary:

Max (Mel Gibson) is part of
a group of highway patrollers attempting to keep the highways in Australia
safe. But marauding gangs of thugs are criss-crossing the country after an
undisclosed crisis has brought the world to the brink.During an extended chase with a
particularly nasty madman, Max takes the killer out. He figures he should take some time off with his wife Jessie (Joanne
Samuel) and their son.

Of course, the thug has friends,
and they are lead by the ruthless Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne). The gang starts
a campaign of harassment against the police, but Max and his pals think they
can handle it. The dangers escalate and Max realizes that he may be in over his
head and putting his family in jeopardy. Should he attempt to face Toecutter
and his cronies, or make an escape with his wife? In the end Toecutter is going
to face Mad Max and wish he had left
well enough alone.

Good Points:

Some excellently staged
chases and driving

Charged with intensity and
unease

Creative sound and visuals
add to the unique feel of the film

Bad Points:

I found the score to be very
distracting

The plot is nothing terribly
new

Thick accents and very loud music may make it hard to follow some of the dialogue.

Overall:

Based on all the trailers
for Fury Road and what I keep
hearing about The Road Warrior I
expected a massive action-fest. Instead I got a simple tale of a man fighting
to stay sane in an insane world. Vengeance fuels the final ten minutes of the
film, but the rest of the movie is the build to that climax. Miller does a fine
job keeping the pacing brisk and the atmosphere of intensity rising and rising.
The car chases are filmed very well, pulling you into the thrills. I enjoyed
this grim film, but was expecting something a bit more fun.

Scores
(out of 5)

Visuals: 4

Sound: 4

Acting: 4

Script: 3

Music: 2

Direction: 4

Entertainment: 4

Total:4

Curious about a full review,
sent me an email and I’ll make additional thoughts to this review.

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

I know a lot of movie snobs
that blame Star Wars for all the bad
movies after 1977. I love that movie too much to join them. However, we can
certainly blame George Lucas’ space opera for the sudden attack of science fiction
adventures that flooded the cinemas in the late 70s and early 80s. 20th
Century Fox was raking in the cash and all the other big studios wanted in on
the action. Disney was no exception. It would be decades before they brought Star Wars under the power of the mouse,
but before that happened, we were treated to this film.

Summary:

The starship Palomino is
exploring deep space when it comes upon a black hole of enormous size. Captain
Dan Holland (Robert Forster) and his crew are excited about the scientific
discoveries they can make. Then they find something even more interesting, a
long lost ship, the Cygnus, just hovering at the very edge of the black hole
and seemingly unaffected by the tremendous gravity.

The Palomino attempts
contact with the Cygnus but it is almost destroyed by the black hole. They land
on the ghost ship and discover that only one man remains alive on board, Dr.
Hans Reinhardt (Maximilian Schell). He is a genius scientist who created the
field that holds the Cygnus in place. He is surrounded by a crew of robots that
run the ship and maintain order. But as the crew of the Palomino start to find
out more about Reinhardt and the Cygnus the more they realize that they are in
terrible danger. Reinhardt is preparing for his ultimate experiment and none of
them may escape the destructive power of The
Black Hole.

Good Points:

Some gorgeous and unique
production design

Solid acting by the entire
cast

An impressive score by John
Barry

Bad Points:

Cute robot antics may rub
some viewers the wrong way

The derivative nature of the
story or characters may be too familiar

Anyone looking for hard
science fiction should look elsewhere

Overall:

This is one of those movies
that almost works but never quite gels into a complete entertainment package.
So many elements are solid or even excellent. But when taken together you get a
movie that feels messy and unrefined. The film looks and sounds spectacular
considering its age and Schell gives a performance that steals the show. Those
who remember this fondly will probably find plenty to enjoy but new viewers may
find it lacking.

Scores
(out of 5)

Visuals: 5

Sound: 4

Acting: 4

Script: 3

Music: 4

Direction: 3

Entertainment: 3

Total:4

In Depth Review

He can't stop watching The Black Hole either.

When I was a kid I used to
torment my sister by watching The Black
Hole and Tron over and over
again. My goal wasn’t to torment her, I just liked the creativity and
adventures in those movies. For me, these two Disney flicks represent some of
the amazing risks the studio was taking at the time and also some of the issues
they couldn’t seem to avoid.

The Black Hole is essentially a retelling of Disney’s take on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea with Maximilian Schell playing the
Captain Nemo role that James Mason owned in 1954. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was one of Disney’s most popular and
lucrative films in the 1950s. So it makes sense that they wanted to mirror that
success with their space adventure. The story acts as the frame The Black Hole is built on. But it is
the other influences that end up muddying the clarity of the film.

The black hole or V'ger's cloud?

Star Wars
was a pioneer for visual effects. Things were accomplished in that film using
computer controlled cameras and a variety of innovative techniques to create a
type of realism that hadn’t been seen in science fiction films since 2001: A Space Odyssey. What makes the Black Hole impressive is that the
visuals were accomplished not by ILM or anyone from Lucas’ team, but by
Disney’s in-house effects crew. It may be one of the last Hollywood films to
actually feature effects by the studio instead of an independent specialized
effects house.

Visually the movie forged
its own path. A quick look at the space ship, robot and costume design will
show you that. The starships in The
Black Hole are completely unique. The Palomino is a squat cylinder with
extended legs and thrusters. It looks very functional, almost like a 1970s
satellite.

"Like a tree on Christmas Morning..."

But the real visual
masterpiece is the Cygnus. This is a gorgeous ship. I love the lighting scheme
used on it, giving it a warm and yet sinister feel. It exudes mystery and
menace in equal measure. During the scene where the crew of the Palomino does a
flyover of the Cygnus we are treated to some up close views of this impressive
model. Both The Black Hole and Star Trek: The Motion Picture feature this
kind of flyover sequence and I find both very effective. Oddly enough, both
films came out the same year.

The interiors for the ships
follow a similar feel. The Palomino is cramped, utilitarian and mostly grey.
Again, it feels like a natural progression from the 1970s space technology. But
the Cygnus is all gothic style mystery. It’s filled with struts, supports
creating a web of crisscrossing lines. It has a huge scope, one that often
feels like it is overwhelming and devouring the cast (thanks to some impressive
matte painting work). The Cygnus could very well pass as a futuristic Flying
Dutchman – a ship destined to journey into hell and take you with it.

What the drone sees.

Finally there are the
robots. The Cygnus has its private army of robot enforcers. These guys serve as
your Stormtroopers, with all the same look and movement. I do like their two
barreled laser guns (which reappear in Guardiansof the Galaxy as a kind of homage). Those suckers always looked cool. I was
always a bit disappointed that S.T.A.R., their leader, got taken out like a
punk, but it was to show off how cool V.I.N.CENT. and B.O.B (Slim Pickens) were
. But before I talk about them, I have to mention the creepy looking Drones
that populate the ship. These robed figures with reflective faces really gave
me the chills when I was a kid, and they move around the ship almost like
ghosts. We are told early on that they are robots, but the crew of the Palomino
discovers a horrible secret about them.

The two hero robots of The Black Hole are V.I.N.CENT. and
B.O.B. These two little guys float around, crack wise and at times V.I.N.CENT.
is smarter than most of his companions. In many ways these guys are obviously
inspired by R2-D2, but actually manage to be different enough to keep Lucasfilm
from coming after anyone.

Nothing sinister here.

But the most distinctive
robot from The Black Hole is the red
devil Maximilian. He is a hulking monstrosity, all angles and sharp points. He
hovers over the ground just above all the other characters in the film. His
single red eye glows a fearsome red and pulses when he is angry (harkening back
to original Cylons form Battlestar
Galactica). He also has whirling blade appendages that he uses to cut down
anyone he feels like. Reinhardt claims to have created Maximilian, but at times
he seems fearful of the giant, and it doesn’t always obey him. Why would you
create a robot with whirling death blades if you weren’t interested in
butchery? Maximilian is a fearsome and disturbing puzzle, and adds to the feel
of dread that the movie attempts to capture.

THE scene from The Black Hole.

One more word about the
visual effects. No matter how scientifically inaccurate the movie is (and yeah
it really goes off the rails at times), the special effects are visually
stunning and impressive. The black hole is a whirling vortex of blues, blacks
and greens. It is always spinning outside the Cygnus and looks sinister enough
to increase the disquieting feeling of horror. The Black Hole looks evil,
something that plays into the themes of the film. But I also have to mention
the meteor shower that comes crashing into the Cygus during the finale of the
film. Asteroids are a staple of space adventure films from The Phantom Planet to The
Empire Strikes Back. But never before have hurtling asteroids looked so
diabolical. These suckers are flaming balls of death that come crashing down
and destroy everything in their path. If one image has remained from The Black Hole over the years, it is of
our heroes crossing a thin bridge in front of the rolling ball of flames.

The sound work does a fine
job of supporting the visuals. Dialogue is crisp and clear and never
overpowered by the sound design. The audio work for the sci-fi gadgets, ships
and robots is unique to the film and helps build the world we see. I especially
like how the interiors of the Cygnus sound cavernous and disturbingly quiet
further adding to the disquiet the audience and Palomino crew feel.

The music certainly adds to the bizarre finale.

I posted a blog about John
Barry’s score to The Black Hole and
focused on the main theme, a swirling tune that captures the relentless power
of the black hole. But the score has several other elements that work within
it. There is a heroic theme for the action scenes, especially when Captain
Holland or V.I.N.CENT. are battling the enforcer robots in the final third of
the film. It’s a bit brash and maybe even a bit corny, but it works. To me the
moments where Barry’s music really takes flight is when he’s building suspense
in the first portion of the film. His music captures and enhances the majesty
of the Cygnus and scope of the Reinhardt’s ego very well. As the movie
continues, he builds this relentlessness of power in the score. The final third
is equal parts action music (based on the heroic theme) and driving intensity
as the Cygnus attempts to dive into the Black Hole. Barry keeps things slowly
but steadily climbing. The crescendo is the finale piece as both crews discover
the existential reality within the Black Hole. This piece combines the diabolical
and hopeless with the triumphant and angelic. It brings unity to a sequence
that would be quite baffling without music. But it is also one of the best
tracks in the score. And yes, I have to mention that Barry uses the Blaster Beam
in this score, as a part of the baseline. It isn’t as obvious as Goldsmith’s
work in Star Trek: The Motion Picture
or even it’s use in Rosenman’s Lord of
the Rings in 1978, but its synthetic tones add dimension to the score.

A genius or a madman? Can Durant really tell?

The cast for The Black Hole does a fine job with the
roles. Maximilian Schell gets all the scene stealing moments, and his
performance is a combination of ego and madness. He is a joy to watch, even if
he gets a bit theatrical. While his performance overwhelms the rest of the cast
at times, you also get a great pair of vocal performances by Roddy McDowall as
V.I.N.CENT. and Slim Pickens as B.O.B. Yeah they are scripted a bit too cute,
but both men give a lot of humanity to the robot roles and you actually care
about the little guys. Robert Forester and Joseph Bottoms as LT. Pizer fit the
heroic mold well, and are pretty straight-laced in the film. Bottoms gets a
slightly more interesting part, as he’s rash youth that rushes in, and
sometimes gets overmatched. Yvette Mimeux as Dr. McCrae is solid in her role,
but it is one that doesn’t have a lot to do in the story, other than tie her to
the crew of the Cygnus and be the object of rescue late in the film. Ernest
Borgnine plays a street-smart reporter Harry Booth, who is out to get a good
story, but also not willing to risk his life when things get too dangerous. He
does a good job with the part. Anthony Perkins really throws himself into the
interesting role of Dr. Durant. His character is seduced by the Cyngus’ power
and scientific advancements. He sees a real boon to human knowledge if
Reinhardt’s plan is successful. We can see his doubts as things start to get
darker, but his struggle is very clear. We like him, and want him to make the
right choice, but things turn out a bit differently when the robot Maximilian
takes matters into his whirling blades.

Hell is unleashed!

Where The Black Hole falters is in the script and the final execution of
the movie. As it is written, the Black
Hole is a gothic mystery set in space. Our heroes are investigators who
stumble upon a haunted mansion inhabited by a mad man. As they explore the
mansion they realize that their lives and their souls are in danger and try to
escape. But like any good horror story, several characters are unable to leave
the fall of the house of Reinhardt. The madman and his servants are destroyed
and consigned to hell. While our heroes remain pure and retain their souls,
leaving darkness behind them.

Yeah I simplified it, but
that is the basic structure of the story. This is Disney trying to make a
horror film a few years before TheWatcher in the Woods.

Damnation eternal?

It is actually fascinating
to dig into the script and identify all the little nods to gothic horror. I’d
hazard that the characters name drop hell, the devil and evil more than any
scientific concepts. Reinhardt is a the classic crazed noble, who literally
sacrifices the souls of his people to obtain more and more arcane knowledge. He
crafts a monster of his own design, the hulking red Maximilian, and grows to fear that creation. His fascination with the Black Hole is like a man fascinated
with seeing into hell or perhaps sharing more with Belloq from Raiders of the Lost Ark who is
convinced the Ark can be used to speak with God. What we come to understand is
that Reinhardt is the Dr. Frankenstein of this tale. He destroys nature and the
pure souls around him to aspire to meet God, and in doing so, damns himself.

Kate fights fire with lasers!

We have the makings of an
interesting film, something along the lines of Event Horizon actually. But Disney never commits to the horror
concept. Instead we have too many cute robot moments that break the tension,
but in a way that is distracting instead of entertaining. The laser battles are
all fun and exciting, but they seem shoehorned into a film that attempts to
plumb into the depths of a mad man’s quest for God. When The Black Hole works best it is when it embraces its core of gothic
horror. The crew of Palomino being pursued by Reinhardts robots, attempting to
escape before the Cygnus is destroyed by flaming asteroids and then ripped
apart by the spinning eye of a demon should have provided enough thrills for
everyone. But this half and half approach ends up diluting the film as a whole,
and confusing some viewers who came into the film expecting Star Wars or Star Trek and instead got a twisted take on Poe's Fall of the House of Usher.

Nothing sinister here either.

While I see some folks
complain about scientific accuracy in The
Black Hole I think they are missing the main theme of the story. It is not
about the black hole at all. It is about one man’s drive to become more than
human and how he destroys everything, including himself, to do it. Heavy stuff
for a Disney movie. I end up appreciating the film’s many merits and its
attempt at something greater. But I always wish that Disney had stuck to their core
script and went for gothic horror in space. Combined with Alien also released in 1979, we could have had one hell of a
terrifying combo of horror from beyond our stars.

The functional Palomino comes in for a landing.

The robot enforcers move in for the kill.

The massive control room for the Cygnus.

"You can trust me, my eyes are only lit this way for
dramatic effect.

Harry's nose for news tells him something is up.

V.I.N.CENT. and B.O.B. discuss Tigerbot magazine.

You know, Reinhardt spoiled Maximilian when he was
a little robot, and now he can't control him!

Saturday, June 18, 2016

Just because Maximilian Schell is playing the part with a bit of extra color doesn't mean it isn't a blast to watch. He has some great lines in The Black Hole and by the end of the movie you wonder just how much lead was in the scenery painting, because he is chewing a bit of it. But I tease Schell a little bit. The movie is much more fun because of his performance (and at least he isn't attempting Hamlet again). What caption do you have for this moment?

Thursday, June 16, 2016

So a few years back I wrote a blog asking where the adventure movies of the 80s and 90s went. I provided a pretty strict definition of "adventure movie". If you don't want to head back to that blog here is the definition:

I’m talking about something set in our world, maybe in the past, but a past where heroes still use their fists and their smart mouths to get out of trouble. The hero is usually on a quest of some kind, and there are obstacles to overcome and a girl to win over. While these movies have action, they are more about the exotic locations, overcoming the obstacles and getting away alive and with some kind of loot.
Pretty basic right? Well I actually forgot an entire trilogy of movies in my examination back in 2011. The Pirates of the Caribbean films of the 2000s would fit perfectly in that group. Curse of the Black Pearl came out in 2003 and was followed up by Dead Man's Chest in 2006 and At Worlds End in 2007. This was a big series for that decade, right up there with Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. This was Disney's fantasy adventure juggernaut and audiences went in droves to the films. One of the big reasons was Johnny Depp's unique and hilarious performance as Captain Jack Sparrow. But all three movies had tons of eye candy, top notch action sequences and a score by Hans Zimmer that has pretty much redefined what swashbuckling soundtracks should sound like.

So how the hell could I forget these movies? Easy, the sequels weren't all that good.

You don't know jack about Captain Jack (DDR style).

Curse of the Black Pearl is a fun movie. It takes the pirate film tropes, the adventure movie tropes and Disney movie tropes, scrambles them all around and twists them up in some entertaining and unique ways. Yes Johnny Depp's performance is key. But I argue that Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa is just as integral to the film. He is the foil to Sparrow, and has almost as many memorable lines as our roguish lead. He makes for a great villain, and one who has a reason to do what he does - to shed his undead state and live the life of a human again. The fluffy romance between Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly takes a backseat to the shenanigans of the pirates. It does provide a bit of a balance to the rest of the characters. The movie does overstay its welcome a little bit, but all in all, it is solid entertainment, and was a bit of a surprise hit when it came out.

Of course Disney is never one to miss a trick. So when the film's popularity blossomed they pulled in director Gore Verbinski to direct two more films, back to back to create a trilogy. This is not an uncommon practice. Back to the Future did this with some success. But so did The Matrix and most folks dismiss Reloaded and Revolutions as misguided and unnecessary.

"See what happens when you leave me out of yourbloody film? ARRRRRRR!"

I submit that the same fate befell the two pirates films. The first film was 143 minutes long. The second film 151 minutes long. The third film was 169 minutes long. The sequels make you feel every last minute. Dead Mans Chest is especially bad. Geoffrey Rush only appears in cameo and new villain Davy Jones (played with verve by Bill Nighy) just doesn't cut the mustard. I also argue that the two sequels have way too much Jack Sparrow in them. His cooky, crazy schtick gets really old really fast, especially without a good foil to play off of. You realize very quickly how much Rush added to the original film.

The visuals and production design remain impeccable, but the action scenes go on way too long (something that was a bit of a problem in Curse of the Black Pearl as well). As much as the movie tries to be fun, there just is a dowerness to the whole that the Davy Jones plot line adds that makes the films move at a crawl.

Um yeah, this is just too much - 169 minutes too much.

What is really strange is that Dead Man's Chest ends with Captain Jack Sparrow being killed and then awakening in a strange limbo in At Worlds End. (Oh and those scenes with multiple Jacks arguing with each other is visually kind of cool, but man was that just plain Johnny Depp overload.) Pretty much the same thing happens to Neo at the end of Reloaded and he starts in a subway station limbo in Revolutions. Where the creators of the Pirates movie doing an homage to the 2003 film? Or was it just a case of lazy screen writing?

Hard to say, but after seeing the borrowed scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark, I'm thinking they knew what they were doing. So we had a trilogy of adventure films in the 2000s. I'm not crazy about them, and still feel that the flawed Indiana Jones films are still better then either of those painful Pirates sequels. Yeah, I would even put Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ahead of Dead Man's Chest. Sadly, Disney won't let the Pirates films die, even after mediocre reviews for On Stranger Tides back in 2011. People keep going to see these films, and I'm guessing it is all the Depp fans out there.

I'd rather watch The Pirate Movie again, than watch thosesequels. No seriously, I would.

The thing is, studios need to stop with the spontaneous trilogies. Buried in the scripts for Dead Man's Chest and At Worlds End is a solidly entertaining film. It would probably run around 151 minutes or so, but with the fat cut out and the adventure focused on (and with Barbossa in a more prominent role) you could have had a sequel that matched the original film. But we get this messy trilogy instead. And studios still haven't learned their lesson. The Hobbit trilogy suffered the same bloated fate. The lesson is, focus on making a single great movie, unless you have a story worth telling in trilogy form. Sadly, Pirates of the Caribbean just wasn't that story.

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

So my wife and I enjoy Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl quite a bit. It is one of our Summer Movies. I capitalize those words because we have a group of Summer Movies in our collection. These are films that are fun, no brain entertainment that are perfect for lazy Sunday viewing when the weather gets warmer. Flicks like Pacific Rim, Jurassic Park, Transformers and The Golden Voyage of Sinbad all fall into that group.

Thing is as frequently as we'd watched the first Pirates film, we hadn't watched the two follow up pirates films of that trilogy since they were released on DVD (nearly ten years ago for Dead Man's Chest). We decided to give them a revisit and I've got a whole blog about that experience coming up. But I did want to post this little moment because it made me chuckle.

I mean this was done as an homage, right? They knew they were borrowing from one of the greats, right? This isn't another case of Independence Day ripping something off and trying to pass it off as its own, right? Lets give them the benefit of the doubt.

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About Me

I'm a writer who loves movies, books, video games and music. Wow, that's pretty generic eh? Been a staff writer for DVD Verdict.com and animeondvd.com. I worked at a video store for nearly 10 years. Still working on genre fiction both short and novel length.